Strange Waters
by Vheeri The Succubus
Summary: Summary: Something about that rain was odd. It was supposed to heal them and ensure life…right?  Takes place after AC:Complete


Warning: DO NOT WANT

Summary: Something about that rain was odd. It was supposed to heal them and ensure life…right? (Takes place after AC)

A/N: For those of you who're still expecting more A P, consider this proof of my writers block.

Strange Waters

Cloud looked upon his patched family with a smile that made the cool air ship seem brighter than it already was. He and the others had ascended into the sky and began their short trip back to their tattered and torn city. Still drenched head to toe, he stood against a wall along with a faintly grinning Vincent. Marlene, Denzel, and a few other children played around, much to Tifa's disapproval Cid yelled and cursed at them. Leading Barret to yell and curse at him. Leading to Yuffie's shouting and Cait Sith's accented whining.

The Shera hovered over a patch of dry land as it landed right on the edges of Edge. Cloud and the others bid him farewell as he departed with his ship. Not even a happy reunion could separate him from his ship. The only way he'd leave out was if he was in a 30 ft radius. Or if it was an absolute emergency like the case of that summon.

Yuffie shouted with joy. They had now arrived back at 7th Heaven after a small walk through the city. Cloud mentioned his weapons and bike, Tifa only coaxed him into waiting until tomorrow to retrieve them.

Over dinner and desert the crew suffered from tears of laughter. The Turks as well as the President himself joined momentarily. But only to leave to commence an immediate clean up of the city and tend to any out of a home. Barret tried to get a few insults in but was promptly silenced by Tifa. It was a happy ending, to an unhappy story.

Then IT happened.

Cloud warily placed a hand over his stomach as he helped Tifa put up the dishes. He felt weird.

"Hey Tif, did you put anything new in that cake?" Cloud questioned, handing her one of the last few plates.

Tifa raised a thin dark eyebrow and accepted. "New? No. Just the usual I guess. Maybe a bit more extract than needed. Why? Something wrong?"

"Well…um.." Cloud sighed. "I've just been feeling weird. Is all."

Denzel and Marlene, who had both been in the kitchen, listened intently.

"Weird eh? Could be from all that time running around like a wild Chocobo." Cloud laughed lightly at the jibe.

"Um…" everyone looked over to Denzel who stopped his cleaning to look at the floor.

"What is it?" Marlene gave him a poke on the shoulder.

"I- Cloud's not the only one. I got this weird taste in my mouth and I don't feel right." Denzel said, resuming his wiping of the tables.

Tifa wiped her hands on a close by towel and checked Cloud as well as Denzel's temperature. "You're both not hot or anything…I feel fine. What about you Marlene?"

The little girl shook her head. "I'm fine." She then giggled. "Maybe it's a boy disease."

Cloud snorted and Denzel frowned. With a grin, the woman of the group patted Marlene's head lightly. "I don't think that's it. Hey do me a favor will you."

Marlene nodded.

"Go around and ask everyone who ate how they're feeling ok."

She nodded again. "Mmhmm."

They all watched her retreating form and resumed their work.

"Odd. I know it couldn't have been your f-…"

Tifa paused and rushed to Cloud's side. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head and ran off upstairs. The slam of the bathroom door vibrated throughout the establishment.

"I-"

It was Denzel's turn to make Tifa worry as he ran off to the basement. Another door slam rang through the air leaving Tifa alone in the cozy kitchen utterly lost.

Suddenly the phone rang making her jump. It wasn't loud but it still did its job. Deciding to leave the dishes she jogged upstairs to answer the persistent thing.

"Hell-…what? No! What are you…It's uh…" Tifa looked to the bathroom door no to far away. "Listen, Cloud and Denzel are going through the same thing! I- No Reno. I already asked Marlene to ask around from some more information. None of us knows what happened."

She winced.

"Oooeeww… Could you not be so graphic jeez!... yes. Yes. I'll call when I get things straight over here alright? No Reno. Bye." Tifa hung up the phone and immediately knocked on the bathroom door.

"Cloud!"

"I'm…fine Tifa. Just, uh, don't worry about me." His muffled reply shot back.

The results with Denzel were nearly identical if it hadn't been for the sick moaning on the other side of the door. Within minutes Marlene came back with a rather terrified look.

"Is…"

"It's Mace! She's got the nasties! And all the other kids!" Marlene panted with her hands covering her mouth and nose.

It took a few moments for the information to sink in. Barret's cursing could be heard all the way from the half cleaned kitchen. Rufus, Cloud, the children. They all had Geostigma… and..oh dear.

Zack nearly howled in laughter from his spot next to Aerith. Kadaj and Loz had their fits as well. Loz was trying his best to remain stoic. It wasn't working. Only Aerith remained somewhat calm, a sad smile plastered on her face. She really felt sorry for them all. Then again the other option for the people was death. Though some of them really wanted to die.

"Oho come on! Lighten up! Y-you know." Zack had trouble stifling his laughter to speak. "You know that this…"

"Oh Zack stop it. You too boys! This isn't funny. Those people are in…um." Aerith wasn't sure if pain was the right word. Agony was too harsh but it was fitting.

"But Mother look at them all!" Kadaj pointed and continued his laughter with his brother. Yazoo finally gave in and snorted in a fashion that resembled a car starting.

"Yes yes I see. But it was the only way to cure them!"

Her argument was pretty much disregarded as Zack wiped tears from his glowing eyes.

Aerith sighed. Thankfully this was temporary. Or else the calm afterlife was going to turn into Hell.

Reno rubbed his temples and paced. Tifa had delivered her new discovery only seconds ago. And Rufus was still locked away in some civilian's home. Fortunately he was the only one that had the stigma so the residents didn't have to flee somewhere else.

Tseng strode into the living room Reno was attempting to relax in. The bloody gashes on his face had been cleaned up but they still stung.

"Reno! Anything?" he demanded.

"Yeah, our sweet cook just called in. Says it has something to do with the Geostigma. She's made sure to contact the local shops and nice folk to keep their bathrooms open for the homeless ones. But space is filling up."

The dark haired man smoothed his hair and wrinkled his nose. The smell was growing outside. Chances were some hadn't been lucky enough to find shelter.

"Alright. Where's Rude and Elena?"

"Out. Still checking on the people."

"Good. Inform them of the situation and make sure bathrooms are open to the public."

"Will do." Reno sighed as he stood from the comfortable couch. The only resident of the house entered from the kitchen as he did so. "Hey granny, save some cookies for me will ya?"

The old woman smiled and placed a tray of tea and treats on a small wooden table. "Sure thing honey dear."

Tseng resisted rolling his eyes and watched the other leave.

"Ma'am. You wouldn't happen to have any air freshener around would you?" At that moment, he could have sworn he heard hysterical laughter.

"You've got to be shitting me!"

"Too late."

Barret and Yuffie had been in charge of looking after the busy bathrooms. Angry parents and worried children were shuffling all around. Vincent had been in charge of finding and tending to the unfortunate ones and Marlene was assigned to comfort control. Her nerves had been calmed so now she wasn't terrified of the huge case of 'nasties'. Cid, upon hearing the news, reluctantly returned as fast as he could to provide more bathroom space. He had plenty of them on his vessel. After much arguing Tifa managed to convince him. Tifa herself assisted small children with their problem. It was a dirty job but someone had to do it or things would only get worse. Red XIII and Cait Sith had to retreat far away. If Red smelled anything more hw would have a sickness of his own.

Cloud refused to leave his small area in the bathroom. He knew if he left he would only have to go back and chances were his place would have been taken. Denzel followed suit.

_I'm sorry…Cloud._

He had an idea who that voice in his head belonged to. That only led to him blushing at the thought of being seen in his sorry state. Just like Tseng he could have sworn he heard fits of laughter.

The tall can of air refresher felt much lighter, that worried the blonde. Honestly the flowery stuff barely helped. If anything it gave him a headache. A few more sprays and he flushed the toilet. He didn't bother getting up. Another wave was going to hit sooner or later regardless. His stomach's rumbles and tumbles confirmed that.

The sickening feeling was relentless. Nothing calmed it. Tapping his toes, drumming his fingers on his knee, even resting his head on the sink close by. After this was over, he was going to make sure to watch for the weather.

Late evening hit. The usually dull skies tinted red and orange. It would have been a magnificent sight if the putrid smell of the city didn't make a person's eyes water. Rufus was finally and thankfully feeling better. The citizens were clearing out and running about doing their best to purify the air. The unfortunate ones had been given spare clothing and assisted by Vincent and Tifa. Cid had finally been allowed to leave, absolutely furious he couldn't smoke until it was deemed safe. He made sure to blast the air conditioner and open all forms of ventilation to rid of the stink. The city was still in shambles but at least things were a tad bit peaceful. As a reward to Reno he got his cookies. Only he didn't bother eating them with the smells going about.

After everything was calm and settled, almost every single soul made sure to avoid the rain and stay far away from Aerith's church. Still, Tifa and a few others were positive they heard laughter close by.

THE END

A/N2: Don't ask. Anywho, I'd like to thank my A P reviewers (blue, ber, ber and all you others on and those on NWU) for all your kind words. At the moment, I'll e doing more one shots until next week. My updates will get slower as time passes due to school coming up. UGH! I can't believe I have to go back in August when all the other ones go back in Sep. This sucks even more cause I feel like I've barely been off! Not even two months I don't think. Wish things were like when you could get a job with the IQ or a retard. But enough of my rambling.

Please review.


End file.
